On Saturday\, May 18th\, Strike Debt Bay Area will host the Bay Area’s Second De
btors’ Assembly. (The first one was held in February. The beautiful poster
s for both created by SDBA organizer Sandy Sanders are shown below.)

\n

p>\n

As individuals\, families\, and communities\, most of us are drowni
ng in debt for the basic things we need to live\, including housing\, educ
ation\, and health care. Even those of us who do not have personal debt ar
e affected by predatory lending. Our essential public services are cut bec
ause our cities and towns are held hostage by the same big banks that have
been bailed out by our government. All of us are outraged that big banks
don’t have to pay their debts\, but we do.

\n

Debt keeps us isolated\
, ashamed\, and afraid—of becoming homeless\, of going hungry\, of being c
rippled or killed by treatable illness\, or of being trapped in poverty-le
vel jobs. Those facing foreclosure\, medical debt\, student debt\, or cred
it card debt feel alone\, hounded by debt collectors\, and forced into unr
ewarding work to keep up with payments.

\n

Strike Debt is building a
movement to challenge this system while creating alternatives and support
ing each other. At the Debtors’ Assembly we will come together as a commun
ity and begin to rethink debt\, not as an issue of individual shame\, but
as a political platform for collective resistance and action. Come to the
Assembly to learn about tools for escaping the closing walls of debt\, to
share resources and skills\, and to magnify our assembled energy. As we s
hare our experiences we can begin to take back from the financiers what th
ey have taken from us: our freedom and our future.

\n

Debt resistance
is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based
on the common good\, not Wall Street profits.

\n

ORGANIZATION INFO:
Strike Debt Bay Area is the local chapter of Strike Debt\, an international movement of groups working to build
popular resistance to all forms of unjust debt. Strike Debt has organized
the Rolling Jubilee\, the Debt Resistors Operations Manual\, and loca
l debtors’ assemblies. Strike Debt supports the creation of just and susta
inable economies\, based on mutual aid\, common goods\, and public affluen
ce. We owe the financial institutions nothing. It is to our friends\, fa
milies and community that we owe everything.